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Me quoted in Fairfax papers on tax haven use Me quoted by Georgia Wilkins in The Age (and other Fairfax publications) today.
John Passant, from the school of political science and international relations, at the Australian National University, said the trend noted by Computershare was further evidence multinationals did not take global regulators seriously.
”US companies are doing this on the hard-nosed basis that any [regulatory] changes that will be made won’t have an impact on their ability to avoid tax,” he said.
”They think it is going to take a long time for the G20 to take action, or that they are just all talk.”
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Archive for 'Boycott'

Socialist Alternative makes no bones about our opposition to the apartheid state of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians, just as we opposed apartheid South Africa. We make a clear distinction (for anyone willing to see it) between Zionism as a political justification for the state of Israel, and the Jewish religion. We are critical of Zionism. Religion is a private matter. There are Jews, proud of their heritage, among our membership.

The Australasian Union of Jewish Students and its campus affiliates very actively and publicly support the Israeli state and its policies.

But the reality of Israel’s brutal actions, from the death of more than 1,100 as Israel bombed Beirut in 2006 to the massacre of 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza in January 2009 (to name just two examples found unavoidably newsworthy by the mainstream media), makes it ever more difficult to present Israel in a positive light.

By resorting to fabrications of racial vilification against those who oppose Israel’s crimes, our accusers merely reveal that they are attempting to defend the indefensible.

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In recent weeks a campaign has developed momentum calling for a boycott of Sri Lankan cricket matches to protest both the Sri Lankan regime’s genocide of Tamils and the Australian government’s attacks on Tamil refugees. Andrew Cheeseman in Socialist Alternative explains why.

Apartheid is the word Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela have used to describe conditions for Palestinians under Israeli rule. No doubt they too in Sheridan’s view are prejudiced and politically sectarian. No doubt they too in Sheridan’s view are ignorant extremists.

The battle against injustice is universal. In Australia it is the struggle against our own rulers and the injustices they perpetrate and perpetuate here and overseas. More power to the left of the Greens in their battles for justice, not just for Palestinians but for Australians too.

For Bob Brown BDS and Marrickville present a three fold opportunity. Brown can continue his campaign against BDS more openly; he can criticise and undermine the more left wing Greens in New South Wales and he can mask voter disquiet about the carbon tax with a more self-serving veil.